Leak during closing - what to do?

[royko]

I've got an inground pool with a vinyl liner that's at the end of its life. Due to a series of unfortunate events, my pool has been stagnant since the beginning of July. Currently, my pump isn't working -- it needs a new seal, and I can't get the impeller off to replace it. It's been that kind of year. Anyway, at this point, i just want to close the pool and deal with it all next year, when we plan to replace our liner. So I used a portable pump to lower the water below the return jets. That was fine, but all of a sudden, I appear to have a leak. I'm losing 1-2" a day. What to do?

I think I may know where the leak is. We had a leak patched in the corner of the floor of the shallow end, and there's a chance that the patch has come a bit loose. I could let it drain to about 1 foot left in the shallow end, hop in, check that patch, and if it's leaking, re-patch it. My concern is -- the pool is currently a swamp. Is it even safe to get in that water?

I could also hire a pro, but I also doubt any pro would want to deal with finding a leak until the pool is clean.

My other option is to fix or replace my pump, refill the pool, shock and clean the pool, then go in and try to find and repair the leak, or call a pro to fix the leak for me. I'd hate to do all that just to get the pool closed.

I could keep adding water to the pool throughout the winter, but at an inch a day, that's going to be a lot. I could let it go empty -- it's bad for the liner, but that needs to be replaced anyway. But I've heard it's also bad for the concrete, too.

I could replace the liner now, but I think it's just too late in the year to do a project like that.

Any suggestions?

 

[Catanzaro]

Please add your signature. Do you have a main drain? If you believe the leak is where it was patched up, you can place a bigger patch over the existing patch. This will not look pretty, but you are ready for a new liner. See if the water holds. If so, I would close the pool and then get everything ready in the spring. The water will have to be removed and the pool refilled. If you clear up the pool, some companies set up a temporary pool and remove the water out of your existing pool to the temporary, remove old liner, install new liner and then start filling pool up. Find out from the liner company the actual process.

 

[royko]

No, no drain. The leak is below the returns and the pool light, so it has to be somewhere in the liner. I don't care if the patch is ugly, as long as it gets me to spring.

If the leak isn't where I think it is, then I think my only options are to refill the pool, get it working, and get it clean, so that I can find and deal with the leak. Or just let it leak and keep refilling all winter. But an inch a day seems pretty big to let it go. Anyway, I think there's a pretty good shot that the leak is where I think it is.

 

[Catanzaro]

No, no drain. The leak is below the returns and the pool light, so it has to be somewhere in the liner. I don't care if the patch is ugly, as long as it gets me to spring.

If the leak isn't where I think it is, then I think my only options are to refill the pool, get it working, and get it clean, so that I can find and deal with the leak. Or just let it leak and keep refilling all winter. But an inch a day seems pretty big to let it go. Anyway, I think there's a pretty good shot that the leak is where I think it is.

Keep us posted! Is the water green? How is the water temperature? If the water is cold, maybe you can get down there with extensions (check out extensions on line) and if the patch has the glue, carefully place it over the existing patch. Then take a paint brush roller (brand new of course) and with an paint extension, roll back and forth to smooth out bubbles. The patch should work well.

For what it is worth, Every few weeks, I go down with goggles and check the liner. Easy to scale the walls and come up for air. The deep end is a little trickier, but most tears are not in the deep end. When people dive, they land on the floor, not causing damage. Most cuts on pools are from objects or toenails (from what I have been told). It is a good way of identifying any rips in the liner.